Evening Star Newspaper, September 22, 1935, Page 33

Editorial Page EDITORITAL SECTION he Sunday Star e = Part 2—8 Pages AFRICAN CRISIS BLAMED - ON ENGLAND AND FRANCE Failure to Share Spoils of War With Italy Is at Base of Rome’s Deter- . . mination to BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. T THE precise moment when the Council of the League A was struggling desperately and despairingly with the Ethiopian question there ‘was spread pbroad in Geneva the news that the Germans were planning to explode another bombshell at the moment of leaving deunitively. Actually sep- arated from the League :ince their withdrawal almost two years ago, the Germans cannot legally get out until next month, when their notice becomes | effective. Before they go they plan to tell the League and the world that until their colonies are returned co- operation with other nations will he impossible. In simple terms, just as Mussolini has served notice that he must have Ethiopla as a source of raw materials and an outlet for surplus population, 50 Hitler means to tell the other powers that the price of peace with Germany 1s the recognition of her similar needs. In a sense the German case is stronger than the Italian, because what Hitler now demands was taken from Ger- many by the treaty of Versailles. By contrast. Mussolini's grievance arises f-om the fact that the British and the French took for themselves prac- tically all of the colonial booty of the war and shared none of it with their Italian ‘ally. At the root of the present African affair lies this stupid refusal of the British and the French at the Peace Conference to recognize that in tak- ing German colonies and denying Italy's claims for a share in them they were simply laying up trouble for themselves. As far as Italy is con- cerned that trouble has already ar- rived and has set Europe and the rest of the world by the ears. Now Ger- many makes it clear that she pro- poses to raise the same issue in a slightly different form and in a future not very distant. Her determination will, too, precipitate a crisis quite as acute as the present affair. Combination Feared by French. French and British apprehension was still further excited by the warm reception of the new Italian Ambas- sador to Germany by Hitler. Always in the back of the French mind is the nightmare of an Italian-German com- bination. And, inscfar as the material circumstances of the two countries are concerned, both have an identical reason for demanding a new deal in colonial assets crowded homelands, are confronted by the plague of population pressure and by their poverty in raw materials and minerals essential to industry. Were Italy and Germany to make a common cause then it is hard to see how any counter-balancing combina- tion of forces could be established in Europe. be not merely possible but extremely probable were it not for two things. In the first place, Hitler and Mussolini are squarely at odds over Austria. And, | secondly, there is a natural rivalry and Jealousy between two dictators, each of whom naturally and inevitably seeks to dominate any combination in which both are associated., With the putsch in Vienna last year the break between.Hitler and Mus- | solini became complete. Hitherto Il Duce had sought again and again to come to terms with Berlin both before and after the Nazi revolution. But driven to turn to Paris he presently came to terms with Laval instead. Many outstanding and troublesome disputes between the two Latin coun- tries were liquidated at Rome and at Stresa—following Germany’s repudia- tion of the armament sections of the treaty of Versailles—and a common Franco-Italian front against German | action in Austria was established. Last Spring. however, Germa.. di- plomacy cleverly retaliated on France by persuading the British to make a separate naval agreement which, in effect, gave British blessing to Ger- man rearmament. Meantime the French had in their turn agreed not to oppose the plans of Il Duce for expansion in Ethiopia. Thus, while the British were indignant over the French betrayal of the League, the French resented equally Britain's de- sertion of the Stresa front. leged legal as well as moral offenses on the part of the other. But in Teality each was playing the same old game. Colonial Interests Menaced. Left alone to oppose Mussolini’s Ethiopian adventure, the British moved heaven and earth to persuade or coerce the French into following their lead. They want to keep the Italians out of Ethiopia because it threatens their own colonial interests. | The French want to keep the League alive as a rallying point in their re- | sistance to German plans in Europe. So London warned Paris that if France did not support the League @ Dprevent aggression in Africa it “onug nardly be of much use in Eu- rope. Aware of a certain anxiety in French quarters as a result of this British argument, Mussolini arranges the little comedy of friendliness in Berlin. And France gropes frantically for both life lines—supporting the League against Italy on fhe one hand and on the other asking Mussolini to guarantee Austria’s independence before he opens his African campaign. Nevertheless, behind all these ya- rious intricate moves and counter- moves of European diplomacy there does lie the serious and unchanging fact that Germany means to have “ her colonies back or their equivalent. And what this amounts to is that her conquerors, Great Britain and France, | must either consent to the return of the territories taken or prepare for & struggle with the Reich. Precisely as Mussolini has recently given Brit- ain the choide between fighting and assenting to his colonial enterprise, Hitler is bound one day. to demand restitution as the price of continued peace. And the demand will be ad- dressed chiefly to Britain because the lion’s share of German real estate fell to England. Americans ought to pay careful at- tention to the approaching struggle over German claims because effort will presently be made to involve them in it, as no resource has been ignored to drag them into the Ethiopian af- fair. At the bottom of the problem lies the fact that after the World War - For both have over- | Such a combination would | Both al-| Win Empire. France and Great Britain divided the German colonies and the outlying Turkish _territories amongst them- selves. They stripped Germany bare and they refused to give Italy even & | bone. Already, too, they had them- | selves accumulated great eolonial em- | pires, the British a quarter of the | surface of the globe, the French half of Africa and a tidy bit of Asia. Having helped the British and the French to defeat the Germans and, | through the medium of Woodrow Wil- | son, to arrange the distribution of the territorial spoils of victory so that | practically everything fell to them- selves under the polite fiction of man- | dates, the American people now find | | themselves invited to aid the British |and PFrench in keeping their booty. | But as long as the French and British | decline to restore the German colonies | and recognize the justice of Italian | claims, it is plain that all their pro- fessed concern for world peace is un- accompanied by the smallest readiness to make any sacrifice for it them- | selves. The proposal to allow Ethiopia | ‘ an outlet to the sea through their own | African possessions was a gesture made under the direst compulsion and, if accepted, one that would cost Ethiopia | the greatest price. If, at the close of the war, Ger- | many had been left her colonies and | Italy had been allowed the mandates | carved out of Turkish territory which | France and Britain took, the present | problems would not have arisen. You | may abhor the domestic methods of | National Socialist Germany, you may | condemn the illiberal practices of | Fascist TItaly, but mno fair-minded American can fail to recognize the justice of both the German and Ital- |ian claims against England and i France; resolved not to restore German colo- nies or satisfy Italian needs, then they will be responsible for the wars which will inevitably result from Ger- man and Italian determination to ob- tain not merely a new deal but also a square deal in the land and re- | And if these countries are| WASHINGTON, sources of the globe. There is not the smallest difference beiween the Italian performance in Ethiopia and the British in South | Africa or the French in Morocco, ex- cept that Italy and Germany were persuaded to sign pledges not to imi- tate the imperialistic operations of | England and France. When, more- contracts were, they renounced them and thus provided the latter countries with a legal and moral ground for | protest. But only a congenitally stupid person could ever have believed | that two great countries would let | themselves be hornswoggled into such a bargain and then stick to it. And, | of course, the same holds good for | Japan, who signed and repudiated in similar fashion. over, they saw how one-sided these | BY JOSEPH F. DRISCOLL. ONDON.—The relative strength and modernity of the Italian | and British navies has become | a subject of interest now that | Premier Benito Mussolini has defied | | the League over Abyssinia and Great | Britain is disposed to support the | sanctions against Italy which quite conceivable might lead to a tremen- dous naval battle in the Mediter- ranean and the Red Sea. A clash between the navies of Great Britain and Italy would be a story of | the hare and the tortoise all over again, with perhaps a different end- ing. The tortoise-like English fleet far surpasses the Italians_in tonnage and number of ships, but®he smaller | Italian ships are much faster and are backed up by greater submarine and air forces. No one can predict at this stage whether Great Britain will continue to rule as mistress of the Mediterranean, but it is conceded that Premier Mussolini has rebuilt Italy’s Divided Between Selves. | If, instead of trying to get the American people to enlist in a new | war to maintain the status quo estab- lished after the last, which is in- | defensible in terms of right or reason, the British and French statesmen would make restitution to Germany | and do justice to Italy, they might | have some basis of appeal for Amer- ican assistance. But they won't do either. Nor can they agree with each | other. | On the contrary, the French were | ready to see justice done to Italy at | | the expense of British security, as ;their performance in the Ethiopian affair has demonstrated, had not their | own security been involved. England |is just as willing to see Germany ! placated at French cost, as her private treaty with Germany in naval matters | proved. And neither country cares | one brass farthing for the cause of | world peace, when its own interests are not at stake, as the conduct of both in the Manchurian episode dem- onstrated. Bul whenever British im- perial interests or French national se- | curity are threatened, then the cause | of world peace becomes immediately involved and the duty of the United | States is brought to American atten- | tion by every resource of propaganda | evailable to London or Paris. The present Italian war in Africa, | | the future German war in Europe, | both had their origins primarily in | U2 colonial details of the Paris Settle- ment for which Lloyd George and Clemenceau were responsible. Today it is customary in England and France to say that it was the American desertion of the League which com- | oromised the cause of world peace. In reality, however, what the Amer- ican refusal to go to Geneva did was to deprive these unfair terms of the backing of American blood and treas- ure and thus to encourage the Italians and the Germans to challenge them more promptly than they might other- wise have done. I don't think any one has less sympathy “with militaristic or im- perialistic policies or performances than have I. War and all of its con- comitants are abhorrent to me, be- cause I have seen my share of both. But I confess that it is hardly less intolerable to see selfish but sated im- perialism hypocritically hiding behind world desire for peace and exploiting it to protect the profits of past con- quests from future challenge. When, moreover, European statesmen and pressmen clamor for America to do itc duty in the cause of world peace, it behooves the people of the United | States to consider whether it is ac- tually peace or only dear old status quo which is in danger. And beyond that, it should inquire whether status quo itself deserves ‘to be defended. (Copyright, 1935.) Australia to Extend Inland Airmail Service MELBOURNE, September 14.—Aus- tralia is planning important exten- sions to the inland airmail service, which will have a direct effect on vis- | itors to the island continent. Within a few months airplanes will carry ail first-class mail between the six capital cities at ordinary letter cost, together with reductions on long-distance mail. All surcharges will cease, so that 3- penny letters will be a standard. There will be daily service between Brisbane, | navy and made it a first-class fighting | week under a dozen flags, but chiefly | Whether the French fleet will join | Italy is doubtful at this moment. | where a division of the British fleet, | 45 destroyers and 2 aircraft carriers, | October 15, which coincides with the |time for the expected start of the | plete the Italian Navy will comprise force. The unfriendly meeting of these two armadas might produce another Bat- tle of Jutland. To this day the Britons are still discussing who won that battle. They still think they did, although they suffered heavier losses and failed to trap the smaller and faster German ships. Close Enough for Accident. A million tons of warships are ma- neuvering in the Mediterranean this Great Britain's, Italy's and France's. Great Britain in the sanctions against Meanwhile, the Italian and the British fleets are gefting dangerously close to the increasing possibility of | an “accident” which might touch off things. Something ominous is seen in the fact that the Italian men-of- war have been reconnoitering in the last few weeks in Greek waters, call- ing unannounced at Greek ports on the pretext of being forced in by storms. The Italian ships have been lurking around Navarino, a Greek port famous in the history of naval battles, consisting of 4 battleships, 8 cruisers, is to visit between September 25 and | Italian invasion of Abyssinia. The British also will visit Corfu, the sore spot between Italy and Great Britain. Premier Mussolini seized that island from the Greeks, but the British compelled him to drop it. Great Britain's role as the protector of Greece was emphasized this month when King George at Balmoral enter- tained the former King George, who is awaiting a recall to the Greek throne. Italy Outnumbered at Sea. There have been all sorts of con- flicting ideas as to the relative strength and modernity of the British and Ital- ian fleets, but the latest information obtainable from the admiralty today shows that Britain has 12 battleships against Italy’s four, 53 cruisers against Italy’s 2¢ and 169 flotilla leaders and destroyers against Italy’s 94. How- ever, Italy has 59 submarines against Britain's 54 and has a greater building program under way, including two of the largest battleships in the world, which will soon be launched at Genoa and Triest. The battleships are the Littorio and Vittorio Veneto, each of 35,000 tons, with a speed of 30 knots and an armament of 16 and 15 inch guns. Four older dreadnaughts are being modernized and their speed raised to 26 knots. Italy will soon have 19 cruisers, the fastest in the world—sev- eral have exceeded 40 knots—and 55 destroyers with a speed of 38 knots. Th; _Isubmanne force is being increased.| to 77. When the building program is com- 6 capital ships, 7 eight-inch-gun cruis- ers, 12 six-inch-gun cruisers, 100 de- stroyers and 80 submarines. With a few exceptions, the fleet will consist o1 iodernships faster than any other feet. The personnel of the Italian Navy totals 52,000 and can be raised to 85,000 on short notice. Britain Sends Reinforcements. To meet any menace from this dl- Sidney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Ho- bart, covering 2,000 miles of fiying. 4 . rection, Great Britain has just rein- forced her Mediterranean fleet with . D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER THE MEDITERRANEAN CHESS GAME. ticipating in the Mediterranean fleet maneuvers now are the battleships Resolution, Revenge, Valiant and Bar- ham; the cruisers London, Devonshire, Shropshire, Australia, Arethusa, Delhi, Durban and Despatch; 29 flotilla lead- ers and destroyers, six submarines and one aircraft carrier. To back them up the admiralty has sent the battle cruisers Hood and Renown to Gibral- tar, accompanied by the cruisers Orion, Neptune, Achilles and 10 de- stroyers. The cruiser Ajax of the West Indies station was also dispatched to Gibraltar. The British are now concentrating | the best part of the home fleet. Par- ) on protecting Gibraltar and Port Said two gates to the Mediterranean, and have moved the biggest and slowest ships from the central naval base at { Malta, which is too close to Italy for | | comfort. Premier Mussolini has divided his navy into two fleets, keeping one in Italian and Greek waters and send- ing the other to the Red Sea area to support his invading armies in 299 24, 1935. Hare and Tortoise Fleets Mighty Squadrons of Italy and England Lined Up in Mediterranean Create Ominous Outlook. more confident that the navy will live up to its tradition of never losing a battle. However, such an experi- enced naval expert as Hector C. By- water concedes that one of Premier Mussolini’s outstanding achievements §s the rebuilding of the Italian Navy in a decade, and that Italy “has be- come one of the world's great naval powers and will spare no effort to keep the rank she has won by tre- case Great Britain attempts to closeamendous effort.” the Suez Canal. | Now that Great Britain has rein- | forced the Mediterranean fleet and | shifted it away from Malta and closer | to the Suez Canal the government is | POLITICIANS TO ITALIAN FIELD ARMY ‘Military Should Seize Ethiopia if Left Alone, but Armchair General Would Find ONDON, September 21.—*“The stain of Adowa,” which the Italian armies hope to wipe out before many days, was the | Atrican version of Custer’s last stand. In the judgment of British military ARE PERIL New Adowa. Harassed by disease and starvation, | Emperor Menelek was about to re- treat when on March 1, 1896, scouts informed him that an isolated brigade of Italian troops was at Enda Kidane | Maret. The Abyssinians -swarmed Italy cannot forget her two outlets to the ocean are under British control | Premier Mussolini has often referred to the “insidious straits” of Gibraltar and Suez. The British are confident they can hold on to Gibraltar despite the Ital- fan submarines and bombers, but are frankly worried about the Suez Canal and the seaway to India. Less than 100 miles separate Italy’s Sicilian bases from the African shores, and Italy’s submarines, mine layers and aircraft might block this passageway. Moreover, Italy has a huge air force under Marshal Italo Balbo in Libya, adjeining Egypt and within bombing distance of the Suez Canal. The flow of troops to Abyssinia has led the public to anticipate war on land, but if the trouble spreads there may be more war in the air and on the sea. The Britons have been re- minded of late that Premier Musso- lini once said: “The Italian people | must be composed of agriculturists and sailors; the sea and the Alps are experts the 1808 defeat was not the | down upon the lost brigade and cut| 110" natural defense,” and again, fault of the Italian army, which was | it to pieces. Other brigades coming | .on'the Fascist banners at sea should ambitious prime minister who goaded his generals to do some- thing spectacular. The British now are wondering whether history will repeat itself in that respect. The present Italian forces should capture Adowa and Addis Ababa provided the generals are not interfered with by politicians in Rome, but it is thought that if Premier Benito Mussolini attempts to direct the fighting from a swivel chair, then another Adowa tragedy may be in the making. Premier Francesco Crispi was the villain of the defeat of 39 years ago. He did not escape unscathed, for Italy burned him in effigy and swept his cabinet out of office, a fate which | odds. The Abyssinians suffered 17,000 | | casualties, including 3,500 killed. The ! Italians lost 4,000 dead. The Abyssin- | ians emasculated 1,500 Italian pris- | oners. The Gens. Arimondi and Da- | bormida were among the killed and | | Albertone was taken prisoner. King’s Throne Rocks. Gen. Baratieri was court-martialed | | and acquitted. Rome rioted on hear- | ing of the disaster, and Premier | crispi left his office in disgrace. | | There were threats of revolution and | | King Humbert's throne rocked. Peace | | was restored in Rome and Africa, but | | Italy never forgot the stain of | | Adowa. | | The beginning of the Roman Em- | massacred and mutilated, but of the | to its assistance met a like fate. The | p b - in Rome | Itallans put up a valiant battle against | :’neor‘:’g":d'h‘_” is necessary to do e, it is necessary to navigate. ” (Copyright 1935.) Germany Is Striving To Win Yugoslavia By the Associated Press. ROME, September 21—Germany's penetration into Yugoslavia in an at- tempt f0 wean that strategically situ- ated nation from France and the Little Entente is assuming great proportions. An Associated Press correspondent, who has just crossed Yugoslavia from | east to west, and then visited the big port cities along the Dalmatian coast, awaits Premier Mussolini if his Afri- | pire on the Red Sea dates back to found the German influence in Yugo- can adventure does not succeed. In 1896, as today, the Italians and Abyssinians were bad neighbors and quarreling over boundaries. Gen. Baratieri led his little army out of Eritrea toward Adowa. Taking the route which the Fascist army will soon be treading, Gen. Baratieri crossed the Mareb River and invaded the northern plateau of Tigre. He cap- tured Adowa, the ecapital of .that province, and Axum, the holy city of Abyssinia. The Abyssinian chiefs went on the warpath under the leadership of Em- peror Menelek, who recruited an army of 140,000 men, including 30,000 non- combatants. Against these Gen. Baratieri had only 16,000 combatants, many of them native troops. Reall ing he was outnumbered ancd appre- ciating the dangers of advancing ! through the wild and unknown coun- try, he cautiously held back. If Rome had permitted Baratieri to bide his time, nature might have won for him, for murrain raged among Em- peror Menelek’s mules and horses and his hordes of warriors ran short of food. In a few more days the Abys- sinians would have been forced to re- treat. Emperor Menelek prayed for a miracle, and one came from Rome. Baratieri Forced On. Like Mussolini, Premier Crispi had spent vast sums on the African expedi- tion and wanted something to show for it. When Gen. Baratieri wired for more troops and supplies, Premier Crispi turned on the general with a sizzling reply, “Your campaign is a military phthisis.” Without inform- ing Baratieri, Premier Crispi sent Gen. Baldissera to supersede him. A friend at home cabled this news to Baratieri, and the desperate general decided to advance against his better judgment. Gen. Baratieri’s four brigades, un- der Gens. Arimondi, Ellens, Alber- tone and Dabormida, moved forward overnight with the object of attacking the position held by 80,000 of the enemy. Gen. Albertone was to march to & place called Kidane Maret, but could not find it on his map, so went instead to Enda Kidane Maret § ‘miles shead. S 1869, when the Italian Steamship Co. bought from a local sheik the harbor | and trading post of Assab, 50 miles from the mouth of the Red Sea. In 1882 the Italian government bought a concession from the company and signed a friendly treaty with Emperor Menelek, then the King of Shoa, in the southern section of Abyssinia. About this time the British and Italians had their first conflict over Abyssinia. With Emperor John, who ruled Northern Abyssinia, the British entered into a deal for the mutual use of Massaua, then an Egyptian port. When Egypt evacuated Massaua the Italians grabbed it, ignoring the Abyssinians. The Italians rapidly ex- tended the colony, named it Eritrea, and pushed forward toward the Abys- | sinian highlands. The = battle of Adowa resulted. ‘Today the Italians are still aiming for Adowa and the highlands, and Massaua is the port from which Premier Mussolini’s legions have de- barked. J.D. Japanese Geishas Oust Shanghm Russian Girls Speclal Dispatch to The Star. SHANGHAL—In Chinese cabarets and larger dance halls the Japanese dancing geishas are slowly but surely ousting their Russian contemporaries. In one Shanghai cafe, the Park Pa- vilion, Russian girls held .undisputed sway until several months ago when the proprietor introduced a few Japa- nese dancing partners to the night- loving Shanghailanders. The Japanese girls, demure, pretty, good dancers and unassuming, made a decided hit in their native costumes The Russian dancers, finding partners becoming more and more scarce, shortened their dresses at both ends, practiced new steps, heightened their color and announced that the battle was on. Since, then, however, more and more Japanese girls have been added to the dancing staff, replacing the Russians and leaving the field in almost undisputed possession -of the gelsha girls. e slavia amazingly strong. In the north, Croatia. the big ag- riculturalists and live stock raisers | were interested in selling their prod- ucts to an industrial Germany. Among the port cities the German influence struck one immediately. There is Ragusa (Dubrovnik), the biggest Yugoslav port, as an instance. The writer went to an international newsstand seeking an Italian newspa- per, because Dubrovnik is directly across the Adriatic from the big Ital- ian port of Bari. The latest Italian newspaper he could find was one week old. But the same newsstand carried seven of the principal German news- papers, which had just arrived. Along the streets of Dubrovnik the | |@riter saw big advertising signs writ- ten in Yugoslav, Croatian and Ger- man. The writer sat at an open air cafe | and asked‘the waiter in German: “Do you speak Italian?” ™ ‘French or English?” “No.” “What do you speak?” “Yugoslav and German only.” The same waiter's eyes glistened with pride & few moments later when he recounted that Reichpresident Goe- ring and his wife spent three weeks at, Dubrovnik. German tourists were everywhere in Yugoslavia, spending money and therefore arousing good will toward Germany. The book stores displayed more German books than those of any other language but Yugoslav. Italy is not unaware of the German advance in Yugoslavia and keeps & keen watch. Her cultivation of Yugo- slav friendship which began recently is partly motivated by a desire to off- set Germany's overtures. Hungary, too, is much interested in the German-Yugoslav development. ‘The writer found in Hungary a grow- ing movement to give up her territo- rial claims against Yugoslavia in an effort to wean that country away from the.Little Entente into a bloc comprising Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and Yul&fl‘lvll. Special Articles GOV.LANDON BY MARK SULLIVAN. OV. ALFRED M. LANDON of Kansas, decidedly a possibil- ity for the Republican elec- tion next year, gave out last week a proclamation urging Kansans to observe Constitution day. In a brief Associated Press resume of Gov. Landon’s proclamation he is described | as having struck out at persons who “would take advantage of the tempo- rary econ wical stress to ingraft into |our Constitution certain precepts of | goverment foreign to it.” He warned | against a doctrine “whereunder the | welfare of men has been subordinated | to what is deemed the welfare of the | group.” | At the time I am writing. this brief summary is all of Gov. Landon’s proc- lamation that I have seen. With no more than this to go upon I should say that Gov. Landon has got hold of the real issue in the presidential cam- paign next year. Any one, Gov. Lan- don or some one else, who is able to see this issue, grasp its enormous sig- nificance, and then make the public | see it, is the person best adapted to be the Republican nominee for the presidency next year. If more than one of the possibilities is equally able to see and portray the issue, then the Republican nomination is that one of them who can most clearly and elo- | quently put the issue before the peo- | ple and most energetically fight for it. Two Conceptions of Society. What Gov. Landon points out is exactly what the issue is. There are !in the world two main conceptions of | society and government. One is the | form that America is familiar with, | the other is a new conception that has emerged in Europe during some 17 years past and has been growing ever since it emerged. The most im- portant thing that has happened in the world since the World War, and perhaps the most important since the French Revolution nearly 150 years ago, is this emergence of a new con- ception of society and government The distinction between the new conception and the traditional Ameri- can one is that the American one puts emphasis on the man, the indi- vidual, while the new conception aims to turn the Nation into the equivalent of a beehive or ant hill, a form of society in which the individual counts nothing, in which the group alone is considered. As Gov. Landon puts it, | the new conception is one “whereunder | the welfare of men has been subordi- nated to the welfare of the group.” By “the group” Gov. Landon means the state, the whole of society, the Government, in the case of America the Government at Washington. The distinction is between, in the American form of society, liberty for the individual and, in the new form maximum power for the state. In the new conception the individual human being is seen as having the status that a bee has in the hive or an ant in the ant hill—the individual wholly sub- ject to the will of the group. the in- dividual having no rights that the group need respect; the individual forbidden to act for himself or to look out for himself or to save for himself— | the individual told to rely upon the state for all his security, all his well- being, the individual commanded to obey the state without question, the | individual forbidden to have any loy: alty to any person, thing or group e | cept the state. As the Italian Fascist | slogan puts it, “Believe, Obey"—that is, believe the state, obey the state. Who Wants to Be an Ant? The ideal, the pattern of the new the ant hill. Those diligent insects are justly held in high esteem, but there ar: many objections to adopting their form of society and government. One is that it won't work, for human beings do not have all the characteristics of bees and ants. Another is, who wants to be a bee or an ant? We can see the new conception at ‘wurk where it has been adopted in Italy, Germany and Russia. Those three forms of government differ in | many respects. But they have the state all-powerful, the individual hav- ing no rights that the state need re- spect. To mention these three exam- ples is to invite skepticism, for America simply cannot believe we are being taken in that direction. Also mention of Italy, Germany and Russia seems to imply intimation that President Roosevelt wishes to be a dictator. a Mussolini, a Hitler or a Stalin. I do not think he has that wish, con- sciously. To make comparisons, be- tween individuals, or to use the word “dictator,” is to seem to use a politi- cal epithet. Understanding Necessary. | ‘What is needed, what is imperative | for America is to ugderstand the un- society toward which we are being opposing Mr. Roosevelt for the presi- is ideally equipped, to go through Roosevelt’s name and without using the word “dictator.” able—again, if he is ideally equipped —to make the country see the under- lying philosophy, the fundamental principles involved, the inevitable des- tination toward which America is be- ing taken step by step—a few of the early steps deliberate, but most of the latter steps, and especially the future ones, coming as the inevitable con- of the will or intention of any in- dividual. That America is being taken in this direction is a fact. It is indisputable. It is recognized by everybody suffi- ciently experienced to have judgment in this field. The number is few, be- cause Americans in the past have had little occasion to think about such matters. It is recognized by the more thoughtful in the Roosevelt admin- | istration. Some of them do not like it, but admit it must be the inevi- table result of the steps already taken. It passes understanding that Amer- ica should see in newspaper dis- patches from day to day what is go- ing on in Germany and fail to un- derstand that America is going in the same direction, lgpulu understand- most appropriate candidate for the | conception is precisely the beehive and | identical conception in common—the | derlying philosophy of the form of | taken. The candidate, whoever it is. | dency next year, should be able, if he | the campaign without mentioning Mr. | He should be | sequences of the first steps, regardless | SOUNDS REAL ISSUE IN 1936 CAMPAIGN Warning Against Doctrine Subordinat- ing Welfare of Man to That of State Hits Roosevelt Philosophy ing that America should fail to be alarmed by the spectacle; or thal America, once realization is brought home to it, should fail to halt the process. Once assent is given to the under. lying philosophy of the subordinatior of the individual to the state; once | the principle is accepted, or once the | process is imposed on us without | clear understanding by either those who impose it or the people on whor: 1it is imposed—once this happens the | rest follows automatically. It can only | be arrested by some immense exertior of the people’s understanding anc strength, such as the election nex! year offers opportunity for. | Individual Subordinated. | Once the principle is accepted thaf the individual is subordinated to the | state, not only is the individual sub- | merged. Every group within the state | must be similarly repressed. Only tc the state must any loyalty be given The ideal of the new conception, the “totalitarian state,” cannot permit any group within the state to have any | degree of power or receive any de- |gree of loyalty. In Germany the labor unions are being liquidated { The local units of government are | being gradually shorn of prerogative Fven religion must be abolished. Ir Germany religion is being drastically restrained and in Russia it is prac- tically abolished. In Italy Musso- lini has not yet got around to this | stage of the “authoritarian state,” but probably that is only because nex door to Mussolini in Rome is the pow- erful capital of the Catholic Church and Mussolini does not yet dare tc take that step in the program of subor- | dination of all other groups to the | state. Only one who is aware of the di- {rection in which America is being | taken is able to recognize the signs— as yet, with us, comparatively Yaint That immense -rights have alreads been taken from the individual ir America is apparent. To cite one re- cent vivid example, up to the present moment every American has been free to plant as many potatoes as he chooses and to sell them to whom he chooses. Up to the present, similarly, every individual has been free to buy his potatoes from whom he chooses After December 1 next no American will have that right Must Look Only to State. The jealousy which the new con- ception has for groups within the state was illustrated during the recent session of Congress by two compara- tively trivial incidents. With us in America, charitable and educational institutions, Community Chests and similar causes have been in the habit of receiving contributions from corpo- rations. President Roosevelt took the position that this ought not to be, that corporations should be restrained from giving such benefactions. The irstinct underlying this, the groping, probably unconscious, toward the “authoritarian state,” is evident. Charitable and educational organiza- tions and individual beneficiaries of such organizations must not look to any source except the state, must not pay deference or pay loyalty to any thing except the state. Similarly in the enactment of the national social se- curity law, President Roosevelt ob- jected to corporations being permitted to have their own pension sy: Only to the state must the individual | be allowed to look for security. In the | ultimate form of the new conception | the individual must not even look to | himself to create his own security. He | must rely, as does the bee, on the hive. In the American conception of so- ciety to save, to accumulate savings, | has been one of the most prized vir- tues. In the beehive an individual who would pile up a personal store of honey apart from the hive would un- | doubtedly be crucified. One feels that all this is intricate. One feels it almost impossible to make America see where they are be- ing taken. Just because the issue is difficult to make clear, one welcomes the emergence of any man who can personify it, who has the insight to see it. the clarity and gift of ex- pression to make the country see it. Gov. Landon seems to have the in- sight to see this issue, to recognize the choice facing America. That insight alone is enough to give him a large qualification for making the fight next year against the beehive conception of society and in favor of the tradi- tional American conception. If, in addition, Gov. Landon has the mag- netism of personality and the elo- | quence and earnestness to make the country see the issue, he is further qualified. If, in addition, Gov. Lan- don has, as I am told he has, a record of exceptionally able management of the State of Kansas, the sum of those recommendations should make hir: an important contender. (Copyright, 19355, New York Tribune, Inc.) . S.-Japanese Pact On Textiles s Seen By the Associated Press. Japanese Ambassador Hirosi Saito expects the United States and Japan soon to reach a “gentlemen’s agree- ment” limiting Japanese textile exports to the Philippines. The Ambassador made this pre- diction after a conference with State Department officials, during which he discussed phases of the question with Francis B. Sayre, Ase sistant Secretary in charge of the trade agreements program, and Stan- | ley Hornbeck, chief of the Far Eastern | Division. | Japan is anxious to maintain friendly commercial relations with the | United States, Saito told newsmen, | and would do its part in achieving an agreement reducing the amount eof Japanese cotton cloth of the cheaper grade to the Philippines. } Negotiations have now progressed to a point where agreement on a definite figure is all that remains to conclude the understanding, Saito said. During the last few years, Japanese textile exporters have captured the bulk ‘of the Philippine textile market from American manufacturers and exporters. In recent months, howe ever, the trend has been somewhst equalized. 1 1. l